THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
" The land system of 1,497 miles was
scarcely completed in June, 1903, when
extensive forest fires in the valley of the
Tanana, ranging for a distance of 250
miles along the line, destroyed vari
ous portions, aggregating 100 miles in
length. By arduous effort this line was
rebuilt and the system thrown open as
a whole to the general public for com
mercial business before winter com
menced. It has since been operated
with unusual success, although inter
ruptions here or there have been fre
quent, 206 breaks in all, due mostly to
blizzards, forest fires, sleet storms, and
high winds."
THE PHILIPPINE LINES
About 3,000 miles of the Philippine
system has been transferred by the Sig
nal Corps to the civil government, leav
ing 7,000 miles of cable and telegraph
still in the hands of the Signal Corps.
If the Signal Corps had charged for
every telegram and telephone on the
scale of the Eastern Extension Tele
graph Company, the only telegraph com
pany in the islands, it would have re
ceived nearly $8,000,000 in tolls. The
total cost to the United States for the
construction and operation of the 1o,ooo
miles of lines in the Philippines has been
less than one-third of this amount.
A BIRD CITY
AT the extreme end of the Ha
waiian group there is a little
island, about 3 miles long and
i Imiles wide, where one of the most
remarkable sights in the world is to be
seen. Hundreds of thousands of birds
make it their breeding place. The birds
have divided the island into lots and
squares, as the surveyor divides the city
into lots, and each lot is reserved for a
particular species of bird. Mr Walter
K. Fisher, of the Bureau of Fisheries,
who in 1902 spent a week on this island
(Laysan Island), has recently published
the official story of his visit there.*
Perhaps the most interesting bird is the
beautiful white-breasted albatross. The
bird is friendly.
'' It might perhaps be
difficult to convey," says Mr Fisher,
" the pleasure I experienced when,
standing in a group of albatrosses, one
came up and peered into my face, and,
finding my intentions good, proceeded
to examine inquisitively the top of my
tripod. Many of the young albatrosses
'"Birds of Laysan Island, H. I.," by W. K.
Fisher, Bureau of Fisheries, 1904.
would allow themselves to be stroked
after a ludicrous show of displeasure,
and would soon appear as if they had
known us always."
The albatross is fond of dancing.
" Two albatrosses approach each other,
bowing profoundly and stepping rather
heavily. They circle around each other,
nodding solemnly all the time (see pict
ure r). Next they fence a little, cross
ing bills and whetting them together,
pecking meanwhile, and dropping stiff
little bows. Suddenly one lifts its closed
wing and nibbles at the feathers under
neath, or, if in a hurry, merely turns its
head and tucks its bill under its wing
(see picture 2). The other bird during
this short performance assumes a statu
esque pose and either looks mechanically
from side to side or snaps its bill loudly
a few times. Then the first bird bows
once, and, pointing its head and beak
straight upward, rises on its toes, puffs
out its breast, and utters a prolonged
nasal groan, the other bird snapping its
bill loudly and rapidly at the same time
(see picture 4).
494